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27/04/2008, 11:38 Breton Joined on 27/04/2008 Posts 2 Heating Costs We are about to install central heating in a building with approx 350 sq m floor area and are undecided whether to go for LPG or Oil; we're not connected to town gas.  Can anyone advise me as to which might be the better option?    Report

27/04/2008, 12:06 Nearly Retired Joined on 23/07/2005 Posts 252 Re: Heating Costs Your subject heading is absolutely correct - it sure does! Our house came with an LPG tank and I guess it's the easiest and cleanest system. It's very handy to have the gas cooker connected to the big tank and so there's no need to bother changing cylinders as you might if you had oil CH. We have town gas in UK so at least using gas in France is familiar and we didn't have to learn the more fiddly details of oil burning.  I suspect this convenience comes at a cost though. In a house the size of yours I reckon the costs will be huge whatever the system. Our house is half that size, has pretty feeble insulation and can cost €30 per day for a week to get the house up to around 20 degrees when we pay a fleeting visit. Guess what - we hardly ever use it. I think most non-town gas CH systems are oil burning but that's only from what I've picked up on this site and learned while viewing houses to buy. That suggests it has been the more economic option for a long while. However, don't ask me if it is now.    Report

27/04/2008, 12:17 Gyn_Paul Joined on 23/08/2004 La Creuse - God's own Dept. Posts 1,164 Re: Heating Costs With oil currently (round here at any rate) now having reached 88 centimes/litre, I suspect our traditional views as to what's a cheap and what's an expensive way to heat a house, probably need a thorough overhaul. Since LPG is derrived from oil anyway, their respective prices tend to rise hand-in-hand. I can't believe I'd ever be in the position of considering heating with electricity, but it's starting to look almost reasonable ! p "Don't think of them as problems, think of them as opportunities." "OK, I think I've hit an insurmountable opportunity!"    Report

27/04/2008, 15:39 Albert the InfoGipsy Joined on 01/07/2006 SDF, somewhere in 56 Posts 508 Re: Heating Costs For a place that size I'd start seriously looking at heat pumps or automated wood burners. Air or ground source heat pumps effectively make electric heating 60-70% cheaper. There have been lots of threads about them here. You can buy wood boilers that take wood chips or pellets. You just load up the hopper every couple of days and the system feeds the wood in automatically. http://www.nef.org.uk/logpile/woodfuel/centralheating.htm The really important thing is to insulate and draught proof the house as well as possible, otherwise you're just keeping the sparrows warm. Albert the InfoGipsy "So welcome to the Citadel where the question is 'Am I?'"    Report

27/04/2008, 16:59 Jonzjob Joined on 23/08/2004 Nr Carcassonne, 11 Posts 2,525 Re: Heating Costs You don'tsay if it's a new build or built? We have LPG with a condensing boiler and wet underfloor heating. We looked at ground source and decided that we couldn't go horizontal and 16,000€ for 2 100 meter deep holes was OTT. Hence the condensing boiler. We are also looking at backing that up with evacuated tube solar heating to supply the boiler with warm/hot water to start off with and that will bring the anual cost down even more. The condensing boiler has proved very effecient so far, but we are still fine tuning the system. I forgot to say that the new boiler was fitted just before Christmas to replace a 20 odd year old boiler which was not efficient! I also agree that having a gas hob on the bulk tank is good too. We had LPG in England before moving so are quite at home with it.. John. The only difference between the men & the boys is the size & the shape & the price of their toys!!    Report

28/04/2008, 11:53 Mikey Joined on 23/08/2004 Posts 173 Re: Heating Costs I'd go for a wood gasification boiler with buffer tank. in milder weather you will only need to light the fire every couple of days because once all your rads and house are at the desired temp all the heat from boiler will heat the water in the buffer/storage tank and give you enough heat for free heating the following day. look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga9TbNIiCJE    Report

03/05/2008, 19:58 Gyn_Paul Joined on 23/08/2004 La Creuse - God's own Dept. Posts 1,164 Re: Heating Costs Mikey, do you have a gasification boiler? If so what size and make? p "Don't think of them as problems, think of them as opportunities." "OK, I think I've hit an insurmountable opportunity!"    Report

03/05/2008, 20:13 Rob Roy Joined on 11/03/2006 19 - Correze Posts 663 Re: Heating Costs Friends of ours have just recently renovated a barn. They have installed a Finnish woodburning stove that is incredibly efficient. It only needs to be alight for 3-4 hours per day to heat the whole house for 24 hours - plus they have a small oven in the top in which they can cook either casseroles or pizzas etc. These stoves are expensive, but eligible for a good rebate on your tax return. This is the sort of thing: http://www.nunnauuni.com/english/      Report

03/05/2008, 20:49 sweet 17 Joined on 05/08/2006 charente maritime Posts 2,045 Re: Heating Costs I am most intrigued by these heaters.  Will definitely bear them in mind should I need to install a stove in our next house. By the way, RR, Good Luck in your new home!    Report

03/05/2008, 21:24 Mikey Joined on 23/08/2004 Posts 173 Re: Heating Costs Gyn, not yet but i'm working on it. I've done a fair bit of research and these are ideal for heating large houses. A friend has one without buffer tank and just needs to fill it once in morning and in the evening and it gets their very big house toasting.   Atmos seem to be very popular, you can get a pretty good deal from www.ph-renewables.co.uk      Report

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